Home
General Info
Application
Faculty
Staff
Mark
Links
Support
Highlights
Contact Us

Last update:
01/11/2010

Bar Harbor Brass Faculty

Blair Bollinger, Music Director

Blair Bollinger enjoys a varied musical career as a trombonist, a conductor and a teacher. He is the Bass Trombonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He joined the Orchestra in 1986 at the invitation of Music Director Riccardo Muti and enjoys the full Orchestra schedule of more than 160 concerts each year along with many recordings and international tours, spanning the tenures of Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Christoph Eschenbach and Charles Dutoit.  As a soloist, Mr. Bollinger has performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, National Symphony of Taiwan and others. He has performed recitals and given master classes in Brazil, Chile, China, Holland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Poland, Taiwan and throughout the United States. Mr. Bollinger has been featured at multiple international and domestic brass conferences. As a student he won the 1986 Philadelphia Orchestra Greenfield Competition and remains the only trombonist to win this competition since it began in 1934 as well as the only bass trombone soloist ever with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In March 2007 he performed the World Premiere of a Bass Trombone Concerto written for him by Philadelphia composer Jay Krush with the US Army Orchestra at the Eastern Trombone Workshop.  His recordings include a solo disc, “Fancy Free”, for d’Note Records, hailed by
American Record Guide as “The recording I’ve been waiting for ... an amazing display of Bollinger’s virtuoso skills.” Other recordings are 2 discs with his trombone quartet "Four of a Kind" and a Gabrieli disc with the Canadian Brass. With “Four of a Kind”, Mr. Bollinger has toured Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the U.S. and appeared at several trombone conferences. An active arranger, his arrangements of music for various string and brass ensembles are published by Alphonse Leduc in Paris, Ensemble Publications in New York and Southern Music in Texas.  Mr. Bollinger is the founding Music Director of the Bar Harbor Brass Week in Maine where he conducts, performs and teaches each summer. He is a frequent guest conductor
with the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia and leads the Curtis Brass and Percussion Ensemble. Mr. Bollinger also has conducted concerts with his daughter, Robyn, as a violin soloist both in Philadelphia and with the DeKalb (GA) Symphony. He has conducted many colleagues from the Philadelphia Orchestra as soloists including concertmaster David Kim.  A 1986 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, he studied with Charles Vernon and Glenn Dodson. Mr. Bollinger is now on faculty at Curtis and Temple University. In addition to teaching lessons, he conducts repertoire classes and coaches chamber music.  He has spent recent summers performing and teaching in the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming, Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, Vail Music Festival in Colorado, Saratoga Performing Arts Center in New York, Bar Harbor Brass in Maine, Blast of Brass Conference in Texas and Lindenbaum Music Festival in Seoul, Korea.  Mr. Bollinger is also active in backstage administration work at Curtis and the Philadelphia Orchestra. At the Orchestra he has negotiated union contracts, served on marketing and education committees and currently Chairs the Conductor Search Committee. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at Curtis and has served on many Faculty and Board committees including Accreditation, Academic Honesty, Curriculum, Facilities, Library, Mission Review and Student Life.

Chris Martin, Trumpet

Christopher Martin, originally from Marietta, Georgia, joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as Principal Trumpet in 2005.  He was Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra the from 2001-2005, after three years as Associate Principal Trumpet of The Philadelphia Orchestra.  He received his Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1997 under the trumpet instruction of professors Charles Geyer and Barbara Butler.  Prior to joining The Philadelphia Orchestra in October 1997, Mr. Martin was also offered the Principal Trumpet position with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.  Mr. Martin has been an Affiliate Professor of Trumpet at at Emory University in Atlanta and Temple University in Philadelphia, and gives master classes at music conservatories and colleges around the nation, including the Manhattan School of Music.  He has performed as Principal Trumpet with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, and the Grand Teton Music Festival.  Mr. Martin, a native of Marietta, Georgia, comes from a musical family.  His father, Freddy Martin, is a band director for a prestigious Georgia private school, and his mother, Lynda Martin, sings in the Atlanta Symphony Chorus.  While a member of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, Mr. Martin trained with then-Atlanta Symphony Orchestra trumpeter Larry Black.  He later received his bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance in 1997 from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where his primary teachers were Charles Geyer and Barbara Butler.  As Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, he can be heard on a number of recent recordings, including the ASO’s 2003 Grammy Award-winning recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony conducted by Robert Spano.
 

Adam Unsworth, Horn

Adam Unsworth is Associate Professor of Horn at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Prior to his appointment at Michigan, he was Fourth Horn of The Philadelphia Orchestra (1998-2007) and Second Horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (1995-1998.) He has also performed as a guest Principal horn of the St. Louis Symphony and Principal horn of the Colorado Music Festival. A former faculty member at Temple University, he has appeared as a recitalist and clinician at many universities throughout the United States, and has made several solo and chamber appearances at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Mr. Unsworth received his formal training at Northwestern University, where he studied with former Chicago Symphony Orchestra members Gail Williams and Norman Schweikert. He continued with graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Douglas Hill. He later recorded Jazz Set for Solo Horn, released in 2001 as part of 'Thoughtful Wanderings', a compilation of Hill's works for horn. In 2006 Adam released his first jazz CD entitled Excerpt This!, which features five of his original compositions for jazz sextet and three unaccompanied works. Since then he has completed a second jazz CD, Next Step, and recently released Just Follow Instructions, a recording of the chamber music of Daniel Schnyder. In 2000, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music named him their Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.

Check out Mr. Unsworth's website at:
www.AdamUnsworth.com
 

Matthew Vaughn, Trombone, Euphonium

Matthew Vaughn joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in September 1999 as Associate-Principal Trombone.  He was Assistant Principal and Acting Principal trombone of the San Antonio Symphony from 1997 through 1999.  Prior to joining the San Antonio Symphony, Mr. Vaughn served in the United States Air Force Concert Band in Washington, D.C., from 1993-1997.  He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony and National Symphony and has been featured as a soloist with the Lafayette Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Temple University Band, the United States Air Force Band, the Indiana University Symphony Orchestra, and the Richmond (Indiana) Symphony.  Born in Dallas and raised in Richmond, Indiana, Mr. Vaughn earned a Bachelor of Music degree with high distinction and a Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University in 1992, continuing with graduate work in conducting at Indiana University and George Mason University.  He taught trombone and was a member of the faculty brass quintet at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and currently teaches at Temple University.  His former teachers include M. Dee Stewart, Milton Stevens, and David Brumfield.
 

Stephen Dumaine, Tuba

Stephen Dumaine grew up in Burrilville, Rhode Island, and during his high school years he was a member of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony, winning a concerto competition to appear as soloist with them when he was eighteen. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and was principal tuba in Spain's Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia during the 1995-96 season. Mr. Dumaine then returned to the United States, where his orchestral experience includes positions with the New World Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, and the Alabama Symphony, and substitute work with the New York City Ballet Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. National and international festival experience includes Tanglewood, Aspen, National Repertory Orchestra, SHIRA Festival (Israel), and Pacific Music Festival (Japan).  Mr. Dumaine joined the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. as Principal Tuba in 2004.
 

Andrew Bove, Tuba

Andrew Bove is from Massapequa Park, New York, and now enjoys a diverse career as a freelance musician based in New York City. As an orchestral musician, Mr. Bove has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Westchester Philharmonic, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Prometheus Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, as well as many others. He is also in demand as a chamber musician, and has performed and recorded with numerous groups including the Extension Ensemble, the American Brass Quintet, and Sequitur. He has also recorded for television, and was recently featured by Hip-Bone music in their series of CDs and instructional DVD for young musicians. From 1999-2002, he was the recipient of the orchestral tuba fellowship from the Aspen Music Festival and has performed at many other festivals, including the Tanglewood Music Center, the Music Academy of the West, and the Pierre Monteux School. Mr. Bove is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Northwestern University, and is currently a faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College and Kean University.
 

Jon Nelson, Trumpet

Jon Nelson, trumpet with the Meridian Arts Ensemble in New York, and currently Assistant Professor of the State University of New York at Buffalo, maintains an active career as performer, producer and collaborator. He has served as principal trumpet for the Festival Aix en Provence de Musique in France under the direction of Pierre Boulez, and the Mineria Festival Orchestra in Mexico City. His arrangements have been performed and recorded by the Cologne Stadt Ballet, the Ethos Percussion Group, and Dweezil Zappa; he has recorded for Channel Classics Records, Barking Pumpkin, BMG/RCA, Bridge, Cuniform, Peer, New World Records, Vandenburg, and CRI. Mr. Nelson holds a B.M. from The Juilliard School where he studied with Mark Gould. He has also studied with Laurie Frink in New York, and Antoine Cure in France.

Wayne J. du Maine, Trumpet

A native of St. Louis, Wayne J. du Maine currently performs with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Brooklyn and Long Island Philharmonics, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, New York City Opera, Rodney Mack Philadelphia Big Brass, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and with contemporary music ensembles such as Speculum Musicae, Sospeso, and ST-X Xenakis. Mr. du Maine is a member of the Manhattan Brass and with Mercury and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Brass Quintets, he is dedicated to performing and introducing live music to thousands of school children in the NYC area, NJ and PA. Wayne has worked with a broad spectrum of artists ranging from Leonard Bernstein and Leonard Slatkin to Hank Jones, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Patti Lupone and Audra MacDonald. He has been a soloist with the orchestras of St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. He can be heard on recordings with the New York Philharmonic, Met Opera Orchestra, numerous commercials, motion pictures and with Prince on his New Power Soul recording.  Mr. du Maine is on the faculty of Columbia and Princeton Universities. At the Juilliard School, Wayne teaches trumpet in the Music Advancement Program and serves as a teaching assistant in the Instrumental Music Program. He is also on the conducting faculty of the Elisabeth Murrow Summer Strings.  Mr. du Maine has performed at music festivals in Aspen, Spoleto, Tanglewood, Vermont Mozart, Bowdoin, Marlboro, Berkshire Choral, and the Manchester (VT) Music Festival. He has been a member of the pit orchestras for Titanic, Music Man and Man of La Mancha. Wayne just completed a two year run of Fiddler on the Roof where he was associate conductor. He is currently a member of the show How The Grinch Stole Christmas and serves as associate conductor at the hit revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center. Highlights of recent performances include the Boys Choir of Harlem, Take 6, Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, the Pittsburgh Collective, soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony, Peter, Paul and Mary, and the rock band Jesus H. Christ, where he plays keyboards.  A member of two softball leagues in Central Park, Wayne resides in Manhattan with his wife, Sharon.
 

Joy Hodges Branagan, Horn

Joy Hodges Branagan has been playing horn professionally since 1997, while still a student at the Manhattan School of Music. Upon graduation in May of 1998, she won a position as Second Horn in the San Antonio Symphony, where she played until 2003. While in San Antonio, Joy was a member of the San Antonio Brass and was on the faculty at St. Mary’s University, as well as being active as a performer and teacher throughout South Texas.  In December of 2003 Joy moved to Washington D.C. and immediately began playing with notable symphony orchestras in the area including the Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony, and the orchestra of the Washington National Opera. In the spring of 2006, Joy was invited to perform as guest solo artist with the Cobb Symphony Orchestra in her hometown of Marietta, Georgia. Since 2005, she has been Second Horn of the Richmond Symphony, and was Professor of Horn at Towson University from 2006-2009. In addition to Bar Harbor Brass Week, Joy is also on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Joy is excited to begin her new job, Second Horn with the Vancouver Symphony, in the fall of 2009.

Chris Branagan, Trombone

A native of San Antonio, TX, Chris Branagan has been a member of The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” since 2003. Prior to his appointment in the Army’s premiere musical organization, Chris served concurrent positions as adjunct Professor of Trombone at Texas Lutheran University and The University of Texas – San Antonio. He has held positions with the San Antonio Symphony, Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra (Principal Trombone), and National Philharmonic (the resident orchestra of The Music Center at Strathmore). Chris made his Kennedy Center debut in 2004, in a Millennium Stage chamber performance, and has since performed on numerous occasions with Washington National Opera. A graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, he has won prizes in solo competitions of the International Trombone Association and the IWBC and in 2001 was selected as one of twelve tenor trombonists from an international pool of applicants to participate in the 2001 Alessi Seminar, hosted by New York Philharmonic Principal Trombonist Joseph Alessi. While studying at the RSAMD, he won every solo and chamber prize available to brass musicians, including an apprenticeship position with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and a solo performance with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.